Healthified Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

This is my healthier take on an old classic comfort food. To clean this recipe up, I ditched the cans first thing. I chose to leave the soup as more of a broth than a thick creamy mess. Avoiding any 'cream' dropped the calories drastically. I also whipped up my own easy and cheesy whole wheat biscuit dough and filled that crock put up to the rim with comforting vegetables and chicken.

This was amazingly satisfying on a cold icy day and absolutely hit the spot. Don't be scared of the raw dough going into the crock pot, I promise. If done right, the dough does cook. It may look wet when it's done, but it'll be nice and fluffy on the inside.
Serving Size: 6

Ingredients for Soup:

6 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken breast

2 cup peas and carrots, frozen

1 onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp basil

1 tsp thyme

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Directions:

Toss everything for the soup into the crock pot.

Cover and set to cook for 6-8 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.

Once nearly done, remove the chicken and shred.

You can use two forks or shred in your stand mixer. It doesn't really matter!

Add the chicken back to the crock pot and cover.

Set the crock pot to high now if you've been cooking this on low.

Ingredients for Dumplings:

1 ½ cup whole wheat white flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp parsley

½ tsp garlic powder

⅛ tsp onion powder

salt to taste

pepper to taste

¼ cup light butter (room temperature), cubed

⅓ cup fat-free cheddar, shredded

⅔ cup fat-free milk

Directions:

Combine the flour, baking powder, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper for the dumplings together in a medium bowl.

Cut in the butter using two forks or your hands until it begins to form a grainy mixture (resembling corn starch.)

Add in the cheddar and milk.

Mix just until a thick dough forms and all lumps are out.

Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls into the crock pot.

Try to do this quickly as to not let much heat escape from the crock pot.

Cover and cook on high for 30-60 minutes.

Once done, the dough will still look a little wet on top, but will be soft, fluffy, and cooked through on the inside.